Josh O’Connor Joins Steven Spielberg’s New Sci-Fi Movie

Challengers star Josh O’Connor has signed on to star in Steven Spielberg’s latest feature project.

Universal Pictures is backing the untitled event film, which already has Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson on the call sheet.

Little is known about the project although sources said it has sci-fi elements and marks Spielberg’s first so-called tentpole production since 2018’s Ready Player One. It is based on a story by the filmmaker while the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Longtime Spielberg associate Kristie Macosko Krieger (The Fabelmans, West Side Story) is producing.

Universal has set a May 15, 2026 release date.

O’Connor is currently in the awards season mix with Challengers, the tennis drama directed by Luca Guadagnino and which also starred Zendaya and Mike Faist. The movie grossed nearly $100 million worldwide via a theatrical release by MGM.

The actor is currently filming Kelly Reichardt’s art heist drama The Mastermind with Alana Haim and will star in Rian Johnson’s latest murder mystery, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which Netflix will unveil next year.

O’Connor is by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Johnson Shapiro.